Sweating for the wedding – Project comeback! (part one)

So, I have a big secret to do with the wedding…and I’m ready to tell you. It’s a secret that I haven’t really told anyone, a secret that I was so embarrassed about, a secret that I’ve laughed and cried about. Maybe the title, ‘Sweating for the wedding- Project comeback’ might have given it away a little? Well if not, here’s my ‘do I laugh or cry’ secret.

I’VE GAINED SO MUCH WEIGHT THAT I CAN’T FIT INTO MY WEDDING DRESS ANYMORE!

Yep! There’s no way I’m squeezing in that bad boy anytime soon. But, that’s okay because I have a plan. I have been lacking motivation and discipline lately, so I wasn’t surprised when my wedding dress couldn’t fit. I thought not fitting into my dress would be enough motivation to get back into it, but if I’m being honest, isn’t! So, with that I thought what better way to motivate me than writing a blog, making it public, setting a date in place and getting you guys to keep me accountable?

This dress is perfect for me so selling it and buying a different, bigger dress isn’t an option. Of course, I could blame it on the holidays I’ve been on lately, the wintry weather, the fact that I have ‘no time’ or that eating healthy is expensive but hey, I would be talking shit. I did this to myself, and I’m more than happy to work my butt of to get back into my dress! Don’t get me wrong, I have still been going to gym most days and eating well, but I’ve also been over eating, skipping gym and not taking care of my body the way I use too. So, project comeback time!

My Plan:

Our wedding is in 5 months, so I’m giving myself 12 WEEKS to fit back into my wedding dress, 12 weeks from this date. (Wednesday, 27th September to Wednesday 20th December) I have no idea if I can fit back into my dress in such a brief time, but I’m going to give it my best shot!

I’m writing this blog as my ‘start’ blog, then I’m going to write another at the end of the 12 weeks to let you all know if I fit into my dress and share my tips and tricks on losing weight and feeling great!

My starting tips.

Clean out your pantry and fridge. Anything un-healthy, out of date or things you know you’ll never use/eat. THROW THEM OUT, START FRESH.

New gym program. I find that whenever I start getting unmotivated at gym its usually because I’m getting bored of my program. It’s best to get a new program every 6-8 weeks. (not only because you get bored, but your body also adapts same exercises and stops working on the muscles as much).

No more excuses. Stop with the excuses! If it’s important to you, you’ll make the time. Whether that means getting up earlier to get to gym, going for a walk on your lunch break or staying up late to meal prep your food. Make it happen!

Buy a drink bottle. I’m a shocker for this one, if I don’t have a drink bottle near me I could easily go the entire day off 2 cups of water, when I have a drink bottle close I’m constantly drinking and refilling it! Water is good for everything.

Be discipline- This one is different for everyone. I’m all for living a balanced lifestyle and not depriving myself from the foods I love BUT, if you’re on a fast weight loss journey like myself, then it’s good to stick to healthy meals until you reach your goal.

Progress. Don’t get caught up on those scales. You can use them sure, but don’t get caught up on the number it shows you. Try taking progress photos instead, that way you can look back on them and see the difference.

Set goals. Set (realistic) goals! Short term and long-term goals! Put them somewhere you can see them.
Here’s my short-term goals:

Treat yourself. This goes hand in hand with goal setting and I find it so important (especially if you’re like me and never buy things for yourself!). This doesn’t have to be a ‘treat meal’, it won’t be for me! Depending on what your interests are and what you can afford this will be different for everyone. But big or small make sure you’re acknowledging your achievements by spoiling yourself when you deserve it! .
These are mine:

So, let’s get personal and talk about what the scales say about my weight, what I want to lose, what I want to gain, and what’s my ‘goal’ weight!

Right from the start, before I had Alayna I was always 50kg but I wasn’t fit or very healthy, this wasn’t a bad weight as I am quite small (162cm). During my pregnancy, I gained 23kg taking me up to 73kg which is the largest and unhappiest I’ve ever been. After I gave birth to Alayna I dropped 7kg naturally, and had to work my ass off to lose the other 16kg. (No, I didn’t bounce back, I was so strict on myself, what I ate and how much I exercised). I finally got back down to 50kg and decided I wanted to work on muscle growth not weight loss! This was a huge change for me because I always thought I was meant to be 50kg!

After working out and gaining muscle I was sitting on 53kg. It took me a long time to learn that I wasn’t gaining fat and the reason my scales were going up was from muscle growth (This is why I don’t focus on scales, I take photos!).

I weighed 53kg and was the fittest I’ve ever been when I tried on and bought my wedding dress. I would love to get back to this.

Now, after over indulging and not pushing myself so hard or looking after my body as much I’m sitting on 56.2kg. Which doesn’t sound like much of a weight gain EXCEPT, I’ve lost muscle and gained fat. So really, I have put on more weight than 3kg (I hope I’m making sense). All up I’ve grained around 5kg in fat and lost my muscle.

My ‘goal’ weight would be to get back to my healthiest weight. Not what the scales say but the ‘I fit into my wedding dress, feel bloody fabulous, my clothes aren’t too tight and I’m feeling confident again!’ weight. I only ever check my weight on the scales at gym, but I also know that if I’m doing everything right and the scales are telling me different, not to worry. Believe in yourself and your body.

I’m planning on sharing parts of my journey along the way. With weekly meal preparation (For Charlie, Alayna and myself) chit chat, day to day life/talk and maybe a few exercises. This will be on my snapchat: ‘laura-whitworth’ (This is a new snapchat) and I will share a few bits and pieces on instagram: ‘tinythoms’.

I really hope you enjoyed this blog! It’s taken me a long time to decide whether I wanted to publicize something that Is so private. I don’t want this to be a ‘poor me’ pitty party, I want to do something about it to change my situation and I’m so excited that you can follow my next 12 weeks of project comeback!

Please make sure you subscribe to my newsletters so you get a notification when part 2 of my project comeback is up at the end of this challenge!